Stanislav Nazarov, 46, a dual citizen of Israel and Russia, is headed to federal prison for 18 months after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering in a transnational fraud operation that funneled $1.4 million through U.S. banks. The sentence, handed down March 5, 2018, marks the end of a high-stakes extradition battle and underscores the reach of U.S. law enforcement in dismantling global crime networks.
Nazarov was one of 19 individuals indicted in January 2017 as part of a sprawling international fraud and money laundering conspiracy. Arrested in Israel that March, he waived extradition and appeared in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, where he entered a guilty plea on December 12, 2017. He has remained in custody since his initial arrest overseas.
The court, presided over by the Honorable Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, also ordered Nazarov to forfeit $50,000 — the exact amount he received in Israel in December 2016, which prosecutors tied directly to a 2015 cyber-phishing scam. That fraud duped a corporate director into wiring $1.4 million to a U.S. bank account under false pretenses. The money was then shuffled across borders to conceal its origins.
According to the statement of offense, Nazarov partnered with an unnamed money launderer around 2013, agreeing to assist in laundering proceeds from fraud schemes originating in Israel and elsewhere. In return, he would receive a cut. The $50,000 he obtained was first routed to Russia before being funneled to him in Israel — a layered transaction designed to evade detection.
“Stanislav Nazarov engaged in a multi-layered form of money laundering to hide the proceeds of international fraud schemes,” said U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu. “His arrest and extradition from Israel was a result of international cooperation amongst law enforcement targeting global crime networks.” FBI Assistant Director Andrew W. Vale called the sentencing a “significant disruption to transnational organized crime.”
The investigation was led by the FBI’s Washington Field Office and the U.S. Department of Treasury, Office of the Inspector General, with critical support from ICE-HSI, U.S. Marshals, the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs, and the Israeli National Police. Prosecution was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Diane Lucas, Michael J. Marando, and David Kent, with aid from paralegal specialists Brittany Phillips and Chr.
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Key Facts
- State: Washington DC
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
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